My son was diagnosed with multiple life threatening food allergies with he was 9mnths old. He was only three years old when he was supposed to begin JK as he was a fall baby. We were blessed that my mom retired from teaching that year and volunteered to home school him for the JK and SK program. He is due to start grade 1 this year and we are debating whether or not to put him into the regular school stream. I was wondering if anyone knew of any schools in the Orleans area that excel with handling food allergies or vice versa? Opinions, comments, suggestions all welcome!

Welcome Hope! I'm not inthe Orleans area but I'm certain that others will chime in with suggestions.
Meanwhile, my suggestion is to consider attending a local support group meeting.
The Ottawa Anaphylaxis Suport Group has monthly meetings.
http://www.ottawaasg.com/OASG2006/index.php

I live in Orleans and have two boys with food allergies. They attend a French Public school and their allergy awareness is terrific because I have helped them to reach that point. I am also a teacher and I do find that there is a huge difference from school to school when it comes to protocol, despite Sabrina's law or the school board policy. My boys have attended two different schools and in both cases, the principals were more than willing to let me help them to improve their practices. In both cases, they admitted that they truly believed that their previous system was a good one, but now realized that there was room for improvement.

Do not be afraid to get involved. Meet with the principal to discuss their policy, but more specifically their practices. Do not be afraid to make suggestions and offer to help. Most important is to meet with the teachers and to discuss what your desires or expectations are before the first day of class.

My youngest had 11 food allergies when he started in JK, including egg and dairy. He was at school for a full day including lunch. Egg and dairy were not banned from the class, but we had many levels of safety measures in place. He had a class full of advocates in his peers. They were very supportive as were the parents in the class. I volunteered in the classroom a lot at first, I helped with lunch time supervision and my confidence grew quickly to the point where I no longer felt the need to be there all of the time. It is also very important for your child to be very aware of his or her own allergies, they are the first line advocate for themselves.

It's very stressful at first because there is so much unknown. It is possible and it can work. Have faith, be patient, and be involved.

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